BITS AND PIECES

Hcc Raises Rates For Airbnbs

New New New

Bean to Brew (25 Greenpoint Road, Bridgewater) has opened at the Brighton Civic Centre. Warm up with coffee, toasties and hot corn chowder. Open Mon to Fri 7am to 3pm. Cocomo and Co (6/16 Cambridge Road, Bellerive) has opened on the Eastern Shore - pop in for a relaxed breakfast, lunch, or small bites at cocktail hour overlooking the Bellerive Quay. Open daily 7am-6pm. Rice paper rolls and noodle salads by day, Aussie pizza by night, Vietnamese Takeaway Huonville (20a Main Street, Huonville) has landed inside Great Southern Pizza. Open Fri, Sat and Sun 10am-2:30pm. Parthenon Souvlaki Bar (9 Springfield Avenue, Moonah) will soon add a touch of Greece to the Moonah food scene. Opa! Lovers of American BBQ are in for a treat! Smoked by Lost Captain (4 Barrack Street, Hobart) has fired up the smoker at Stabla with loads of succulent meaty eats on offer. The Sunlight Kitchen (12 St Johns Ave, New Town) is open at the Kickstart Art Centre and is serving up delicious Afghani beef kofta, samosa and halwa. The kitchen is open every Friday, 11am-2pm. Lovely Nails Sandy Bay (171 Sandy Bay Rd, Sandy Bay) has opened for anyone looking to spruce up their hands and feet. Miniso (Shop 7, Wellington Centre Hobart) has recently landed in Hobart CBD’s Wellington Centre. Head in and check out their huge range of all things plush and cute. Chou kawaii! Open seven days from 10am. If you’re looking to deck out smaller spaces, Fold Out Furniture (113 Harrington Street, Hobart) has opened in their new CBD shop, offering foldable and space saving furniture in a wide range of styles to suit any decor.

Hobart City residential homeowners who rent entire homes out as short stay accommodation, such as through Airbnb, will pay double the council rates of owner-occupiers or landlords with long-term rentals as of this month. Owners of vacant blocks will also be charged with double rates, whilst general rates will increase by 6.9 per cent. Hobart City Council voted the changes in, 8-3, at their regular meeting on 19 June. A post-meeting statement from Council read, “The Council is encouraging owners of short stay accommodation to make their properties available for long-term rental purposes, while inviting owners of vacant-residential land to develop their land more quickly for residential accommodation.” Councillor Simon Behrakis, who was one of the three councillors who voted against the changes, said on social media, “Council has been provided no opportunity to publicly scrutinise the budget outside of tonight’s debate” and calling the doubling of rates “a cynical cash grab by the Greens…if this move was to help ease housing pressures then the money should go towards that goal as well, it’s clear this was a tax aimed at hurting people certain Councillors don’t like and using them to line Town Hall’s coffers.” Councillors Marti Zucco (who brought a box of Cornflakes into the meeting as a prop) and John Kel- ly also voted against the doubling of rates for short-stay accommodation, whilst Councillor Louise Elliott did not vote due to a declared interest. Cr Elliott is president of Tasmanian Residential Rental Property Owners Association and an Airbnb owner. Since 2014 the City of Hobart has issued 686 whole house change of use to visitor accommodation permits.

RAISE YOUR VOICE!

Has Festival of Voices got you interested in joining a choir? The Tasmanian Song Company is a Hobart-based community choir that enjoys singing all kinds of songs. With their upcoming concert Show Stoppers: a choral concert featuring popular songs from musical theatre through the decades, now is a great time to check them out and join in the fun. Rehearsals take place on Mondays at Lenah Valley Community Hall, from 7:30pm - 9:15pm. If you’re keen to raise your voice, head to www.tasmaniansongcompany.org.au.

Zig Zag Track Open

The Zig Zag Track, the main walking route up to the summit of kunanyi/Mount Wellington, is now open after months of restoration work. But be quick - it’s closing again from November until early 2024 for the final stage of the works to repair erosion. The team have completed 570m of the track, with 350m to go.